Caught up on taking pictures

Took the time to take pictures of what I have finished and/or been working on…

Finished:

Grapes and Quilts

I have had this finished for quite some time, but finally got around to framing it and gave it to my Grandmother for Christmas.

Air

After finishing Christmas presents I decided to stitch something small and quick.  I have had this pattern in my stash for a couple of years and thought it was a good time to work on it.  It’s called Christmas Chickadee by Valerie Pfeiffer from The World of Cross Stitching December 2006 issue.

The last picture is of my latest progess of Book of Ink Circles.

I haven’t kept up with the realease of the parts, but have been working away on it.

What the BoInk am I up to?

I’ve gotten two of the three parts stitched.  I am going to stitch the border as I go to make sure I don’t count wrong.  Here is my progress so far:

I’ve been doing some work on Christmas Mystery V as well. I don’t work on one part until it’s done, I jump around and work on what I feel like working on.  This is a completed Part 5 (except for the beads of course).

The newest addition to my WIP pile (or mountain) is Martina Webber’s Watergarden Mandala.  I’ve got this one on my lap frame, so I am going to do the beads as I go. 

Wedding season is coming up and I have been invited to a friend’s wedding in July.  I am working on the Rose (because her name is Rose) from Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum’s Tea Garden.  I am working on 36 count linen and I’ll stitch their names and wedding date in gold Japan thread underneath the Rose.

More Stash

I was working on Christmas Mystery V and realized that I had not made the border wide enough for the contents.   Grrrr.  Now I know that silk fibres are easier to frog than cotton.  I used my trusty seam ripper and took out the right hand side of the border.  I think that I will do the contents before closing the border back up. 

I came across a mention of Book of Ink Circles  (BoInk) in a blog and am definitely going to add it to the WIP pile.  I am going to do the gold frames in metallic Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid PB01.  I have the border on the corner done and the border of the first installment completed as well.   

A friend of mine is getting married this July and I am working on a piece for her.  Of course I ran out of the Glissen Gloss that is required and have to stop and wait for my order.  Once I finish the gift I’ll post a pic and details on the pattern.  I really like the Glissen Gloss Rainbow 000 so I ordered two.  I also ordered more PB01 for BoInk. 

I was looking around Martina Webber’s other designs and decided to order the Alhambra Garden kit (fabric, metalics, beads and pattern) from European Cross Stitch Company in California.  My favourite colour is blue, and there are a lot of blues in this one.  I have always wanted to do one of Martina’s Gardens.

As part of my spree I ordered three A-Z books from Nordic Needle.  The two embroidery ones and one on Crewel work.  I like the idea of crewel work, but not working with wool.  I have seen crewel work done with cotton floss, so I’ll probably try that at one point.  I found out about the A-Z series of reference books from the women at my guild, and am glad that I got a few.  The binding is coiled so it lies flat and the pictures demonstrating the stitches are really nice.  There is one on needlepainting that I have my eye on but I’ll wait until the fall to get that one. 

Now I have to sit down and decide what I want to work on the most.  I don’t really stick to a rotation on pieces that are just for me.  I’ll have to organize my thoughts on that one.